EpiPen law may save kids with allergies

By Amir Vera, Capital News Service 04/23/12

When Tiffany Glass Ferreira’s son Charlie was 3, she offered him a treat that nearly killed him.

“I gave him cashews. He took one bite and started to have a severe reaction, where he was crying, grabbing his tongue – his face started to swell,” Ferreira said. “He looked like a Klingon, like a science-fiction character.”

Charlie, now 5, ultimately recovered. To save other children from potentially fatal reactions to food allergies, Virginia last week adopted a law requiring schools to carry epinephrine auto-injectors, such as EpiPens. These devices deliver a single dose of epinephrine, or adrenaline, into the thigh of someone suffering a life-threatening allergic reaction.

After talking with other mothers in support groups, Ferreira, who supports the EpiPen legislation, said she realized she can’t stop Charlie from having another reaction, but she can be prepared for it.

“I said, ‘How can I prevent this from happening again?’ Another mom said to me, ‘You can’t. It’s going to happen again. You can’t think if they have a reaction. You have to think when,’ ” Ferreira said.

The “when” factor is exactly what Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, had in mind when he introduced Senate Bill 656. SB 656 will require schools to carry epinephrine auto-injectors in case a child has a severe allergic reaction.

“The EpiPen bill does two things. For those jurisdictions that already had … the EpiPens in the schools, it allows them to have enough flexibility to continue handling the EpiPen issue the way they’ve been handling it,” McEachin said. “For everybody else, it writes a protocol as to the need to have the EpiPen in the school, who can administer it and who can write prescriptions for it, because at the end of the day, it’s a medicine and it has to be prescribed.”

The bill also requires school nurses and other employees to be trained before injecting students with EpiPens. During its regular session, the General Assembly overwhelmingly passed SB 656 and an identical House bill, HB 1107, sponsored by Delegate Thomas “Tag” Greason, R-Lansdowne.

Gov. Bob McDonnell recommended that the legislation be amended to make it clear that school boards must implement the EpiPen law by the start of the 2012-13 school year. On Wednesday, the House and Senate unanimously approved McDonnell’s recommendations. The governor plans to sign the law this Thursday.

John Rokenbrod, a spokesman for the Amelia County public school system west of Richmond, said current laws require students to bring their own medications, such as EpiPens, to school.

“In the past, you had to have specific permission for that student. You had to have a prescription and permission to administer the medication,” Rokenbrod said.

The new legislation is intended to ensure that children without an EpiPen are not out of luck when they have an allergic reaction. Also, school officials will be trained to recognize signs of a severe reaction and to administer epinephrine.

McEachin’s bill was introduced shortly after 7-year-old Ammaria Johnson, a first-grader at Hopkins Elementary School in Chesterfield County, died in January from an allergic reaction to peanuts. Ammaria’s death prompted groups such as the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network in Fairfax to call for laws allowing schools to stock EpiPens for use in emergencies.

“Absolutely, this one was inspired by the death of that little girl,” McEachin said.

McEachin said he hopes the law will help avoid tragedies like Ammaria’s death. “Maybe some little girl or some little boy won’t die from an allergy when that’s absolutely preventable,” McEachin said.

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